The show is already diverting from the comics. Besides, the overall story? Its a zombie story... most of them are pretty much the same. Only difference is what type of survivor is gonna be the biggest threat to the heroes.

Oh and as for adaptions. Some of them are so totally different that you have nothing to fear at all.Wanted only shared some character names. RE... zombies & umbrella but thats about it. Dresden Files, character names but totally fucked up the canon.

You're not the only one avoiding it. I'm just sick of zombie stuff. It's been done to death and there aren't many more places one can go creatively. Oh, your family died. Oh, your friends are zombies. Oh, unlikely people are violent gun toting killers. Oh, you all died at the end. Oh, it's political allegory. It's not scary anymore, at least for me. The original 1979 Dawn of the Dead said it all and everything else was just redundant. The fact that the genre is going into self parody means its days are numbered. Genre trends seem to always come in cycles, like a special I saw on Italian Westerns.

1. Sincerity2. Allegory3. Self parody

Here's how the first wave of zombie flicks went. Night of the Living Dead - horrorDawn of the Dead - allegoryReturn of the Living Dead - comedy

I've never gotten the argument that someone wants to read the book/comics first because all it ever leads to is them thinking the source material is better because of how much is left to the viewers imagination. In a book they may give you descriptions on how a character/location looks, sounds, smells and such but that's still all filled in by the readers imagination. Take for example a description that contains "ruggedly handsome" and I'm quite sure that varies from person to person by a great amount. Even in comics where visual representations are given things like a character's voice are still left up to the reader so of course written source material is almost always "better" because the scene you painted in your head was exactly what you would have wanted to see within the boundaries laid out in text and ink.

IMO entertainment should be graded on its own merits/faults and not against those of others. I don't know too many people who read a movie's script first before seeing the movie only to say "well the script was better than what came out on film".

Also I never got why people cared so much about the deviation between the comic and the movie ending of Watchmen. So what? Its not a Vagina/Shoggoth hybrid that brings people together. If anything I was more annoyed at Dr. Manhattan's lack of cryptic message before he leaves Veidt as I felt it carried far more weight than what exactly killed all those people.

The walking dead is not the best comick around, you can watch the show without having read them. I have read up to issue 73 or something and well meh I don't get why this has gotten such a huge following. Maybe people need to read more manga.

I honestly couldn't stand the comics and I really tried my best to get into them but no luck. It was just depressing for the sake of it and the characters were just unlikeable as hell to me. I think the comics ruined any chance of me liking this series which is a shame... D:

There's a huge paperback compendium of the first 48 issues of the comic series that I picked up a couple months ago. It makes for a great 2-3 day read, and I can't possibly see how they're going to cram that material in anything less than the first season or two, so that ought to set you for a while.

I have been digging the walking dead from the first trade. It's well worth getting the compendium as it is bastard cheap for how much is in it. It's not the best ever comic ever made ever. but it's entertaining and oddly appeals to a wide audience since it is basically a zombie soap opera. The t.v. show does seem to differ in some areas but the main plot seems the same so far. I say hold off on the comic if you want to stop spoilers, I love depressing comics and unlikable characters. (as my avatar proves) As a great man once quoted of another great man "The world is a good place and worth fighting for...I agree with the second part"

I honestly cannot wait for Rick's speech. THE speech with THAT line. match grade bullets for anyone who can quote it. (spoiler tags obviously)

Quite true but I think that no-one has done it well until now. Romero is hugely over-rated in my opinion. Zombies have never been taken seriously I believe. Give it a try it could suprise you. It really is one of the first times slow zombies have been portrayed well. The speech I mentioned sums up WHY I think the walking dead is great.

I have avoided it like I avoid all Zombie crap except for Zombieland and Shaun of The Dead. I never thought Zombies were creative and redoing it over and over and over is not exactly going to change my mind. Yell and scream about how cool it is, just like the next repetitive Zombie movie/show/comic/game. You'll still be wrong.

The66Monkey:The walking dead is not the best comick around, you can watch the show without having read them. I have read up to issue 73 or something and well meh I don't get why this has gotten such a huge following. Maybe people need to read more manga.

Yeah, lets compare the only other zombie manga I have ever come across. High School of the Dead... zombies for like the first issue then just panty shots and braless boobs non stop.I say this with every scrap of emotion I can possibly put into these words.

Jiraiya72:Considering the fact that books are almost always better than movies/tv, I always try to watch the movie or whatever first. I won't be disappointed that way.

I don't know... Kick-Ass made a better Movie IMO.

They are different stories. The movie is a light-hearted comedy about a geek who wants to be a hero. The comic on the other hand is a twisted, cynical, in-your-face satire. It kicks your ass throughout the entire books and delivers a pretty depressing ending where the movie comes around the corner with the typical happily ever after story. I love the books and still like the movie but, yeah, they are totally different.

On topic:

My advice is to read the first 44 pgs. of the comic, then watch the first episode to get the best experience and, most importantly, a clear view of where the comic is going and what path the tv series takes.

The66Monkey:The walking dead is not the best comick around, you can watch the show without having read them. I have read up to issue 73 or something and well meh I don't get why this has gotten such a huge following. Maybe people need to read more manga.

Yeah, lets compare the only other zombie manga I have ever come across. High School of the Dead... zombies for like the first issue then just panty shots and braless boobs non stop.I say this with every scrap of emotion I can possibly put into these words.

Fuck manga! Fuck it in its stupid kiddy obsessed or perverted ass!

u mad?

Oh lol yea when i watched the HSotD tv series I was very confused "do they expect me to be faping to this stuff?". But what i meant whit manga was that some of the better manga tends to have plot twists more similar to the ones in Walking Dead than most western comics.